0:00:02 > 0:00:05The great civilisation of Ancient Egypt,
0:00:05 > 0:00:09with its dramatic spectacle and mystery, has always fascinated me.
0:00:10 > 0:00:14I've been travelling the country to explore some of the intriguing
0:00:14 > 0:00:18stories that have emerged from this historic land.
0:00:18 > 0:00:22In this programme, I'm on the trail of a Pharaoh's wife who committed
0:00:22 > 0:00:26a crime so terrible they tried to wipe her name from history.
0:00:48 > 0:00:51This is the body of Ramses III.
0:00:51 > 0:00:54He came to the throne in around 1184 BC,
0:00:54 > 0:00:59about 30 years after the death of his illustrious namesake, Ramses II.
0:01:03 > 0:01:07He's considered by many to be the last of the truly great Pharaohs.
0:01:07 > 0:01:12He went to enormous lengths to ensure his achievements would be remembered.
0:01:15 > 0:01:20Many Pharaohs left monuments in stone as witness to their greatness.
0:01:20 > 0:01:23They carved their life stories on a scale never seen before.
0:01:25 > 0:01:30Ramses III truly seemed worthy to follow his noble predecessors.
0:01:31 > 0:01:35Generations to follow would know of his glory and power
0:01:35 > 0:01:38because his temples and statues boasted huge wealth
0:01:38 > 0:01:41and impressive military victories.
0:01:45 > 0:01:49But thanks to a chance discovery of ancient documents, we can go behind
0:01:49 > 0:01:52the propaganda of Ramses III,
0:01:52 > 0:01:57to reveal a very different Pharaoh from the one he wanted the world to know.
0:01:57 > 0:02:01Hidden for 3000 years, these papyri tell a story that was
0:02:01 > 0:02:06never supposed to be remembered, a story of betrayal and intrigue
0:02:06 > 0:02:08against a flawed Pharaoh.
0:02:08 > 0:02:12It's sheer luck that this document has survived to tell the tale.
0:02:22 > 0:02:25This is Medinet Habu, one of the largest and best preserved
0:02:25 > 0:02:27temples of its time in Egypt.
0:02:27 > 0:02:32It was built for Ramses III and it's more of a temple town really,
0:02:32 > 0:02:35not just a place of the gods, but a centre
0:02:35 > 0:02:38for civil administration and a place of refuge in a time of trouble.
0:02:41 > 0:02:46I've come here to understand the two different sides of the life of Ramses III -
0:02:46 > 0:02:50the public propaganda and the scandalous hidden story.
0:02:55 > 0:03:01Within these walls a powerful drama was played out over 3,000 years ago
0:03:01 > 0:03:05that completely changes how we think about this great Pharaoh.
0:03:10 > 0:03:14To judge by the mighty scale of this temple, and the images on it,
0:03:14 > 0:03:19you'd think that he was the most successful Pharaoh of all time.
0:03:19 > 0:03:21Here he is smiting his enemies,
0:03:21 > 0:03:26whipping them, almost like a fertility god, virility personified.
0:03:26 > 0:03:29But towards the end of his reign,
0:03:29 > 0:03:33Ramses was beleaguered, beset, few allies nearby,
0:03:33 > 0:03:36civil disobedience undermined the stability of his reign.
0:03:36 > 0:03:41And also, he died in strange and mysterious circumstances.
0:03:44 > 0:03:48But you wouldn't know any of that from the images carved here.
0:03:50 > 0:03:53Ramses ordered this enormous temple to be constructed
0:03:53 > 0:03:55on the very first day of his reign.
0:03:55 > 0:04:00He must have believed from the start that there would be
0:04:00 > 0:04:04plenty of glorious military triumphs to carve upon these vast walls,
0:04:04 > 0:04:08that he would be one of the greatest Pharaohs that ever lived.
0:04:13 > 0:04:14Ah...
0:04:14 > 0:04:18On the walls of the second court of the temple
0:04:18 > 0:04:20there are some very gory details
0:04:20 > 0:04:24celebrating the Pharaoh's military triumphs.
0:04:25 > 0:04:28Up there are piles of severed hands,
0:04:28 > 0:04:31each one, of course, representing a dead enemy,
0:04:31 > 0:04:37and the hands are being counted by scribes.
0:04:37 > 0:04:40There's a chap throwing the hands onto the pile.
0:04:40 > 0:04:42There's one, two, three piles of severed hands.
0:04:42 > 0:04:45And in front of me...
0:04:45 > 0:04:47is a pile of severed penises.
0:04:49 > 0:04:51Again, each one...representing...
0:04:51 > 0:04:56an enemy who could no longer pose a threat.
0:04:57 > 0:04:59This is incredible.
0:04:59 > 0:05:03Below me here is a hieroglyph explaining the scenes above.
0:05:03 > 0:05:08This surely is a text referring to the severed penises.
0:05:08 > 0:05:11And there we see a hieroglyph
0:05:11 > 0:05:14for severed enemy penis, I suppose.
0:05:14 > 0:05:16How about that?
0:05:19 > 0:05:24At the time of Ramses III, Egypt was surrounded by enemies.
0:05:24 > 0:05:28He was fighting to save his country from invasion,
0:05:28 > 0:05:33although to judge from the depictions on one of the most impressive walls,
0:05:33 > 0:05:37the Pharaoh easily swept aside his foes.
0:05:47 > 0:05:51The outer surface of the temple wall shows one of the most extraordinary
0:05:51 > 0:05:54artistic scenes in Egyptian art.
0:05:54 > 0:05:57It is probably the first,
0:05:57 > 0:06:02certainly the largest, depiction of a naval battle in history.
0:06:02 > 0:06:04An amazing piece of work.
0:06:04 > 0:06:07In front of me here, one sees
0:06:07 > 0:06:12the swirl of a chaotic naval action.
0:06:14 > 0:06:17And here we see ships being boarded,
0:06:17 > 0:06:19grappling hooks pulling ships over.
0:06:19 > 0:06:23An amazing image of
0:06:23 > 0:06:26violence, terror and fighting.
0:06:26 > 0:06:27Here...
0:06:27 > 0:06:30is the image of the Pharaoh, Ramses III,
0:06:30 > 0:06:33in all his power and glory.
0:06:33 > 0:06:36A gigantic figure, dominating the scene with his great bow,
0:06:36 > 0:06:41clearly directing the actions, making it clear that he was responsible
0:06:41 > 0:06:44for the Egyptian victory that was the result of this action.
0:06:44 > 0:06:47Propaganda of a very high order.
0:06:47 > 0:06:51But Ramses wasn't only proud of his military prowess.
0:06:53 > 0:06:57He also seems to have been unusually proud of his harem of women.
0:06:59 > 0:07:01All the Pharaohs had many wives
0:07:01 > 0:07:06who lived in royal harems all over the country.
0:07:07 > 0:07:13But Ramses clearly took particular delight in depicting himself with his women.
0:07:13 > 0:07:16I'm in the temple gatehouse, and above me are
0:07:16 > 0:07:20the remains of a most extraordinary room,
0:07:20 > 0:07:23a prospect room, where the Pharaoh would sit
0:07:23 > 0:07:27enjoying the view to the Nile over there and the canal
0:07:27 > 0:07:29that once served the temple.
0:07:29 > 0:07:33But he'd sit up there, with young females,
0:07:33 > 0:07:35presumably females from the harem,
0:07:35 > 0:07:37which is somewhere over there, I think.
0:07:37 > 0:07:41We know this because the images show the Pharaoh,
0:07:41 > 0:07:44sitting with a young girl, chucking her under the chin,
0:07:44 > 0:07:47conversing in a casual manner.
0:07:50 > 0:07:54And up there with another delightful female.
0:07:54 > 0:07:58These are almost unprecedented in Egyptian art, these scenes
0:07:58 > 0:08:00of a Pharaoh with his concubines.
0:08:01 > 0:08:07Striking, but they have now a strange poignancy because we know that it was
0:08:07 > 0:08:10women such as these, women closest to Ramses,
0:08:10 > 0:08:14who were to plot his downfall, his murder.
0:08:19 > 0:08:23We only know about the dark goings-on that happened here
0:08:23 > 0:08:28because of that chance discovery of an extraordinary set of documents.
0:08:28 > 0:08:34In the early 19th century, a bundle of papyri, dating from the reign of Ramses III,
0:08:34 > 0:08:37turned up on the black market in Cairo.
0:08:40 > 0:08:44Papyrus is fragile, disintegrates easily, and some pages were missing.
0:08:46 > 0:08:50But enough of these legal and administrative documents survived
0:08:50 > 0:08:52to suggest a remarkable tale.
0:08:52 > 0:08:55The details are disputed amongst historians
0:08:55 > 0:08:59because some of the text is confusing and difficult to interpret,
0:08:59 > 0:09:03but piecing together the fragments, what has emerged is a story so scandalous
0:09:03 > 0:09:08that the ancient Egyptians tried to wipe it from history.
0:09:09 > 0:09:13In fact, they almost succeeded because this papyrus
0:09:13 > 0:09:17is the only evidence that these events ever took place.
0:09:19 > 0:09:24The documents tell the story of an extraordinary conspiracy against the Pharaoh
0:09:24 > 0:09:27that centred around his innermost circle, his harem,
0:09:27 > 0:09:31the last place he would have expected betrayal.
0:09:37 > 0:09:42In Ancient Egypt, the harem was an important part of the Pharaoh's court,
0:09:42 > 0:09:45with unprecedented access to the Pharaoh himself.
0:09:45 > 0:09:50The harem housed the royal wives and concubines and their many children,
0:09:50 > 0:09:52as well as male administrators,
0:09:52 > 0:09:56treasurers and the Pharaoh's household staff.
0:09:56 > 0:10:00Because the Pharaoh often married into the most aristocratic Egyptian families,
0:10:00 > 0:10:03the harem could contain the sisters, mothers and daughters
0:10:03 > 0:10:07of some of the most important people in Egypt.
0:10:10 > 0:10:15Each Pharaoh had several harems in palaces and temples around the country,
0:10:15 > 0:10:19sometimes adding up to hundreds of wives and concubines.
0:10:19 > 0:10:23But he would also have a travelling harem of his favourites that went everywhere with him.
0:10:26 > 0:10:28Within these various harems,
0:10:28 > 0:10:33there must have been quite a bit of jockeying for position amongst the women,
0:10:33 > 0:10:36hoping for favour for themselves and their offspring.
0:10:38 > 0:10:43The papyrus suggests that it was in this world of domestic and political intrigue
0:10:43 > 0:10:47that Ramses III demonstrated his major failing -
0:10:47 > 0:10:50his inability to organise his private life.
0:10:52 > 0:10:57It appears that, as his reign went on, this Pharaoh, far from continuing
0:10:57 > 0:11:00the glorious traditions of his predecessors, was becoming a weak,
0:11:00 > 0:11:05indecisive man, unable to control his own family, let alone his nation.
0:11:06 > 0:11:10Some historians believe this failing is confirmed
0:11:10 > 0:11:13in a curious detail here at Medinet Habu.
0:11:17 > 0:11:23Ramses III was, it seems, a man who was unable to make decisions,
0:11:23 > 0:11:25even very important decisions.
0:11:25 > 0:11:27All Pharaohs had numerous wives,
0:11:27 > 0:11:31but each Pharaoh would choose a great wife.
0:11:31 > 0:11:34And that was done for a very simple reason.
0:11:34 > 0:11:39It was the great wife who gave birth to the next Pharaoh.
0:11:39 > 0:11:43Through her, the line of succession was assured and no-one would argue.
0:11:43 > 0:11:47Her child was to rule after the death of the Pharaoh.
0:11:47 > 0:11:51But Ramses couldn't choose between two women.
0:11:51 > 0:11:56One was Isis and the other contender was Tiye - two women.
0:11:57 > 0:12:00And this picture here tells the tale.
0:12:00 > 0:12:05You see up there an image with Ramses to the left,
0:12:05 > 0:12:07and in front of him, slightly above,
0:12:07 > 0:12:09the great queen.
0:12:09 > 0:12:11But she hasn't been named.
0:12:11 > 0:12:12The cartouche in front of her,
0:12:12 > 0:12:16which should bear her name in hieroglyphics, is blank.
0:12:16 > 0:12:19This indecision was terrible.
0:12:19 > 0:12:23It created chaos in the court when there should be order, and set up
0:12:23 > 0:12:26a potential succession crisis.
0:12:28 > 0:12:32The competition between these two royal wives, Tiye and Isis,
0:12:32 > 0:12:34must have been fierce.
0:12:34 > 0:12:37Tiye gave birth to a son called Pentawaret,
0:12:37 > 0:12:40which means "son of the great female one".
0:12:42 > 0:12:45But Isis also had a son of about the same age.
0:12:47 > 0:12:50In Egypt it was by no means automatic
0:12:50 > 0:12:54that the eldest son would be chosen to inherit the throne.
0:12:54 > 0:12:59So, to avoid a succession crisis, Ramses absolutely had to choose
0:12:59 > 0:13:02which of these two sons was to become the crown prince.
0:13:04 > 0:13:09And, when he finally made his decision, Ramses did not choose Tiye's son, Pentawaret.
0:13:09 > 0:13:12Instead, he chose Isis's son.
0:13:14 > 0:13:16And, from the papyrus,
0:13:16 > 0:13:21we know that this decision was to have potentially fatal repercussions for the Pharaoh.
0:13:21 > 0:13:25Tiye was not the kind of woman to be passed over lightly.
0:13:27 > 0:13:31From the documents, it appears she soon began to plot her revenge
0:13:31 > 0:13:36and hatched an audacious plan to put her own son on the throne.
0:13:36 > 0:13:39It appears there were two parts to Tiye's plot.
0:13:39 > 0:13:42The first was to murder her husband, Ramses III.
0:13:42 > 0:13:45The second, to provoke an armed uprising
0:13:45 > 0:13:49to prevent Isis's son from taking his rightful place as Pharaoh.
0:13:52 > 0:13:55The papyrus tells us extraordinary details
0:13:55 > 0:13:57of who was involved in the plot.
0:13:57 > 0:14:01For a start, Tiye recruited those closest to the Pharaoh,
0:14:01 > 0:14:02the harem women.
0:14:07 > 0:14:12This is an exact replica of a portion of the papyrus.
0:14:12 > 0:14:15And here is Tiye's name mentioned here.
0:14:15 > 0:14:21This tells us that she conspired with the head of the harem,
0:14:21 > 0:14:24and with the women of the harem,
0:14:24 > 0:14:27to incite rebellion against Ramses.
0:14:31 > 0:14:34She must have been a pretty compelling person
0:14:34 > 0:14:39because she persuaded some of the most important and trusted men of the royal household
0:14:39 > 0:14:43to side with her against the Pharaoh and his rightful heir,
0:14:43 > 0:14:47not only the head of the harem, but the treasurer, the butlers
0:14:47 > 0:14:49and significantly, the food taster.
0:14:51 > 0:14:55But the help of these powerful courtiers alone wouldn't be enough.
0:14:57 > 0:15:01Tiye still had to convince key generals in the army to commit treason,
0:15:01 > 0:15:04to betray their Pharaoh, and join her plot.
0:15:04 > 0:15:09We know from this extraordinary document that Tiye and her allies
0:15:09 > 0:15:15began writing letters to friends and family outside the harem asking them to join the conspiracy.
0:15:16 > 0:15:20And, because many of the harem women came from powerful families,
0:15:20 > 0:15:25they were closely related to high-ranking officials in the army and in politics.
0:15:27 > 0:15:32If the women of the harem could recruit enough important friends and relatives,
0:15:32 > 0:15:35then this conspiracy could be very dangerous for the Pharaoh.
0:15:38 > 0:15:42But there's a curious part of this document that gives us an added insight
0:15:42 > 0:15:45into the general atmosphere of superstition that
0:15:45 > 0:15:47pervaded the court of Ramses III.
0:15:54 > 0:15:59Ramses was a great believer in the power of magic.
0:15:59 > 0:16:03In fact, most people in Ancient Egypt accepted that magic
0:16:03 > 0:16:08could be used to affect the lives of the living, for good or for ill.
0:16:12 > 0:16:16Although spells were thought to be the key to achieving a required result,
0:16:16 > 0:16:20sometimes the magic also involved administering narcotics.
0:16:22 > 0:16:26And we know from the Papyrus that Tiye and her co-conspirators
0:16:26 > 0:16:29used Ramses' own spells to help them in their plan.
0:16:32 > 0:16:36Ramses' own library contained many papyri
0:16:36 > 0:16:42packed with detailed spells, and it's one of these spells that got stolen
0:16:42 > 0:16:48by a scribe and given to the plotters to be used against Ramses himself.
0:16:48 > 0:16:52It was probably a crime punishable by death even to read the spells
0:16:52 > 0:16:56in the Pharaoh's private library, let alone steal one and hand it over
0:16:56 > 0:17:00to the Pharaoh's enemies to give them power over him.
0:17:00 > 0:17:05But this is what the papyrus says about one of the daring plotters.
0:17:05 > 0:17:09He began to make magic spells for hindering and terrifying,
0:17:09 > 0:17:13and to make people out of wax for enfeebling the limbs and gave them
0:17:13 > 0:17:18into the hands of the head of the harem, in order to hinder the guards.
0:17:26 > 0:17:31This wax figurine, a doll really, dates from after the time of Ramses
0:17:31 > 0:17:36but it's much like those used during his reign.
0:17:36 > 0:17:39It would have represented an individual.
0:17:39 > 0:17:42The head here,
0:17:42 > 0:17:47the arm of course, and the naval - there's a little sort of twist of hair,
0:17:47 > 0:17:52I suppose taken from the person who would be the subject of the spell.
0:17:52 > 0:17:56We don't know much about the person, other than seemingly he was a man,
0:17:56 > 0:17:58genitals popping up here.
0:17:58 > 0:18:03Made of wax so one could stick pins in it if one didn't like the person.
0:18:03 > 0:18:10And on the back is a little recess in which there is a bit of papyrus
0:18:10 > 0:18:15on which the spell is written, except it can't be read now, it's too fragile.
0:18:15 > 0:18:19It would have been over a figure just like this
0:18:19 > 0:18:24that the priests cast Tiye's spell, one of which was aimed at
0:18:24 > 0:18:28incapacitating the guards round the temple so the plotters
0:18:28 > 0:18:33could send letters out into the land to raise rebellion against Ramses.
0:18:36 > 0:18:38We know that, by now,
0:18:38 > 0:18:41Tiye had successfully recruited many key military leaders to her plot,
0:18:41 > 0:18:46including the commander of the archers and army generals.
0:18:46 > 0:18:50But the conspirators would need to choose their moment carefully
0:18:50 > 0:18:53and events were beginning to play into their hands.
0:18:55 > 0:18:59Ramses, now in declining health, had begun to lose popularity amongst
0:18:59 > 0:19:03his subjects, because of a series of disastrous political decisions.
0:19:03 > 0:19:07Civil unrest against the Pharaoh began to spread through Egypt.
0:19:09 > 0:19:13One of the key events happened here in Thebes.
0:19:16 > 0:19:23In the 29th year of Ramses' reign, a crisis overtook the country.
0:19:23 > 0:19:25Government workers failed to receive their wages,
0:19:25 > 0:19:28and this was a very serious matter
0:19:28 > 0:19:32since their wages were paid in the form of food.
0:19:32 > 0:19:34So what did they do? Well, they took direct action.
0:19:34 > 0:19:38They waited two weeks and then went on strike,
0:19:38 > 0:19:42and they marched down here to the Ramesseum to confront the scribes.
0:19:42 > 0:19:46They came here because the Ramesseum wasn't just a mortuary temple,
0:19:46 > 0:19:49but was also a centre of local administration,
0:19:49 > 0:19:51and it's where food was stored.
0:19:51 > 0:19:53This is where their wages were.
0:19:53 > 0:19:59They came here to go to the warehouses over there to take their wages, to take their food.
0:20:02 > 0:20:07The workers must have prowled around here, outside these warehouses,
0:20:07 > 0:20:10looking for their food, demanding their wages.
0:20:13 > 0:20:18The reason why the food had not been handed out was because, ironically,
0:20:18 > 0:20:24Ramses was storing up the grain for a big feast to celebrate the 30th anniversary of his glorious reign.
0:20:25 > 0:20:29But, in fact, his reign was becoming more and more troubled
0:20:29 > 0:20:33and Tiye and her co-conspirators must have been watching with interest.
0:20:35 > 0:20:37The discontent went on for months,
0:20:37 > 0:20:42and if this was the state of affairs here with the government workers in Thebes,
0:20:42 > 0:20:46one can only assume this was the state of affairs throughout the country,
0:20:46 > 0:20:48other workers also not receiving their wages.
0:20:48 > 0:20:53The country must have been tottering on the edge of insurrection,
0:20:53 > 0:20:57a difficult and dangerous place, tottering on the end of chaos.
0:21:00 > 0:21:06This chaos would eventually provide the ideal conditions for an uprising against the Pharaoh,
0:21:06 > 0:21:10and Tiye's plan was ready to glide into action.
0:21:12 > 0:21:14The details are unclear
0:21:14 > 0:21:20but it seems that Tiye launched her plot during the next big festival held in Medinet Habu.
0:21:20 > 0:21:25And just three weeks later, Ramses III was dead.
0:21:34 > 0:21:36This extraordinary story
0:21:36 > 0:21:39makes me see the whole temple complex of Medinet Habu afresh.
0:21:39 > 0:21:42It's as though it were crime scene.
0:21:47 > 0:21:49I'm standing on top of the first pylon.
0:21:49 > 0:21:56And from up here you get a very clear feel for the geography of Medinet Habu.
0:21:56 > 0:21:59Over there is the entrance gateway.
0:21:59 > 0:22:05And that's where the spells, possibly drugs, must have been used to incapacitate the guards.
0:22:06 > 0:22:09Behind me is the temple proper
0:22:09 > 0:22:11with its courtyards
0:22:11 > 0:22:13and second pylon.
0:22:13 > 0:22:18During the festival, this would have been packed with courtiers and guests,
0:22:18 > 0:22:20the perfect cover for Tiye's plot.
0:22:23 > 0:22:28In front of me here are the ruins of the royal palace.
0:22:28 > 0:22:31And, presumably, it was in one of the rooms down there
0:22:31 > 0:22:34that Ramses III died.
0:22:42 > 0:22:45Thanks to mummification, we can still
0:22:45 > 0:22:49see the body of the Pharaoh today, over 3,000 years after his death.
0:23:09 > 0:23:14Golly, to come face to face with Ramses at last.
0:23:15 > 0:23:17Incredible.
0:23:17 > 0:23:23What we know is that he died about a month after the harem plot,
0:23:23 > 0:23:27so it seems likely that he was murdered -
0:23:27 > 0:23:31that the plotters succeeded in their aims of killing the Pharaoh.
0:23:32 > 0:23:35If there were a forensic investigation, this mummy
0:23:35 > 0:23:40would be dissected and analysed to tell us what happened to him,
0:23:40 > 0:23:45but as it stands, there's no conclusive evidence to prove the crime.
0:23:45 > 0:23:46What we don't know
0:23:46 > 0:23:48is how he died.
0:23:48 > 0:23:52His body has never been fully examined.
0:23:52 > 0:23:54The head's been X-rayed, and we know
0:23:54 > 0:23:57it shows no trauma - he wasn't hit on the head, for example.
0:23:57 > 0:24:02But I suppose the most likely cause of death must be poison.
0:24:02 > 0:24:06The royal household would have been full of potential poisons,
0:24:06 > 0:24:09used in medicine - mandrake, poppies, morphine.
0:24:09 > 0:24:13All those could have been introduced into the Pharaoh's food or drink
0:24:13 > 0:24:15and could have killed him.
0:24:15 > 0:24:19A good clue is that the chap responsible
0:24:19 > 0:24:24for the Pharaoh's food and drink was listed among the plotters.
0:24:24 > 0:24:29One can't help but feel sad and poignant.
0:24:29 > 0:24:33Did he die a slow and lingering death...
0:24:34 > 0:24:37..at the hands of these harem women,
0:24:37 > 0:24:39the plotters from the palace?
0:24:39 > 0:24:44The last people he expected to turn on him.
0:24:46 > 0:24:48With the Pharaoh out of the way,
0:24:48 > 0:24:52it was time to follow through on the military takeover of the country
0:24:52 > 0:24:55and put Tiye's son, Pentawaret, on the throne.
0:25:00 > 0:25:04But there's one other papyrus that gives a crucial clue as to what
0:25:04 > 0:25:06actually happened next.
0:25:09 > 0:25:12This is a portion of the papyrus.
0:25:12 > 0:25:17This is the title page, so to speak, of the image.
0:25:17 > 0:25:19And this sheds fascinating light
0:25:19 > 0:25:23on the events that took place after the death of Ramses.
0:25:23 > 0:25:29It states that the Pharaoh to succeed Ramses III was Ramses IV.
0:25:30 > 0:25:33Ramses IV was the son...
0:25:33 > 0:25:34of Isis.
0:25:34 > 0:25:38Tiye's son is not mentioned at all.
0:25:38 > 0:25:43That's very serious. His name is consigned to oblivion.
0:25:43 > 0:25:47He's utterly forgotten. Clearly, Tiye's rebellion failed.
0:25:51 > 0:25:57We don't know why Tiye's plot failed but it was Isis's son, Ramses IV,
0:25:57 > 0:25:59who rounded up the conspirators.
0:25:59 > 0:26:02The legal documents tell of the trial of Tiye
0:26:02 > 0:26:05and the others who'd helped her.
0:26:05 > 0:26:11As well as the women from the harem, the list shows the breadth of the support she'd recruited.
0:26:11 > 0:26:15It included the head treasurer, the captain of the archers,
0:26:15 > 0:26:20the commander of the army, the overseer of the king's harem,
0:26:20 > 0:26:23two scribes of the House Of Sacred Writings.
0:26:23 > 0:26:27Presumably they were the ones who stole the crucial spells,
0:26:27 > 0:26:31four butlers, and six wives of harem guards,
0:26:31 > 0:26:35all accused of the plot to overthrow Ramses III.
0:26:37 > 0:26:41But even during their trial, the harem women didn't give up the fight.
0:26:45 > 0:26:48The document shows they actually tried to use their charms
0:26:48 > 0:26:52on four of the trial judges to influence the outcome.
0:26:52 > 0:26:54It reads, "The women arrived
0:26:54 > 0:27:00"at the abode of the judges and there caroused with them in a drunken orgy."
0:27:01 > 0:27:06But the wayward judges were caught, and had their ears and noses cut off.
0:27:08 > 0:27:12As for the conspirators, they were all sentenced to death.
0:27:12 > 0:27:17Most of the forms of capital punishment at the time were fairly horrible.
0:27:17 > 0:27:22One involved skewering people on a spike and leaving them to die.
0:27:23 > 0:27:28But, because they were aristocrats, Tiye, her son Pentawaret
0:27:28 > 0:27:31and the other conspirators, were given an easier option.
0:27:31 > 0:27:34They were allowed to commit suicide,
0:27:34 > 0:27:37which they did, most probably with poison.
0:27:40 > 0:27:44After this, all mention of Tiye and Pentawaret
0:27:44 > 0:27:46was chiselled from history.
0:27:46 > 0:27:50Tiye has no tomb, no statue, engraving or wall-painting.
0:27:53 > 0:27:56In fact, even though she was a Pharaoh's wife,
0:27:56 > 0:28:00the only mention of her name anywhere is in the trial documents.
0:28:04 > 0:28:07Who would have thought, all those years ago,
0:28:07 > 0:28:09that such a fragile document,
0:28:09 > 0:28:14written on papyrus not stone, would survive all these years
0:28:14 > 0:28:18and today tell us about these rather dark goings-on?
0:28:23 > 0:28:27Without the documents, we would have absolutely no idea
0:28:27 > 0:28:33that Tiye had ever existed, or of her conspiracy to murder a Pharaoh.
0:28:46 > 0:28:50Next time, I'm tracing the dramatic chain of events
0:28:50 > 0:28:53that brought the Ancient Egyptian civilisation to an end.